at the number.
‘Remember my friend, it’s not the quantity of books you read, but the quality.’
‘Of course.’
‘Now if you return to Tinos at any time, and I sincerely hope you do, I have many more books for you to read. So, back to normal things, where would you like to eat tonight?’
‘Your sister’s place,’ Alexander started, ‘but I want to pay,’ he added emphatically.
‘We’ll see. Now I must go and work. I have some private tutoring today.’
‘See you later then.’
‘Yassu Alexander.’
Again Alexander started to read as soon as Polychroni was out the door. As was often the case with Alexander and a pile of books, he would first read a few lines or flick through reading a little of each book before deciding which one he would start with. That was the case again with this group. In the end he chose Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund. He sat back on a wicker chair in the partial sunshine, a bottle of water beside him and began to read.
Hours later feeling the effects of the sun, he went inside to lie down. His mind was racing. His physics teacher in his final year of high school told him one very important fact and that was that the brain is the most complicated kilogram of matter in the universe. He was finally understanding what his teacher meant. His brain actually hurt from the input.
Alexander found it absolutely astonishing to be able to absorb all that he was reading, or at least most of what he was reading. He had never considered himself particularly intelligent but in his final two years of high school he’d received better results in his exams that he had in all the previous ten years of schooling. Clutching Hesse’s book to his chest as he lay on his bed, he felt confident that he had the personality as well as the intellect to comprehend almost anything which had been given to him by his Greek friend. He was excited to say the least at what lay ahead. This is my first week of travel, he thought to himself. ‘I have already read books by Hermann Hesse and Krishnamurti,’ he said to himself. ‘I have in my possession several others, all of which I presume are equally mind-expanding.’ With a plan to travel further within the cradle of civilisation and beyond to countries like India, he was sure his knowledge could even grow exponentially.
‘Alexander,’ his landlady called.
Alexander jumped up and walked to the door. His landlady had a bowl of fruit, freshly picked and cut as well as a glass of orange juice. ‘Parakalo,’ she said handing them to him.
Perfect he thought, just what I need. ‘Efharisto.’
The old woman smiled, turned and walked away saying something incomprehensible. Alexander was overjoyed and immediately began to eat and drink. With all the reading, he’d completely forgotten to have lunch. The fruit and juice were delicious, just like everything else in Greece.
A few moments after he’d finished eating, he was dozing peacefully. An ever so gentle afternoon breeze blew through his open door. It was another extremely hot afternoon and everyone on the island would be glad to have this breeze. Very few could afford the luxury of air-conditioning.
Alexander slept like this for an hour or more. When he woke up he was feeling quite refreshed. He looked at his watch and noticed that it was nearly 4 o’clock, so he decided to go down for a swim. As always it was a good idea because when he came out of the water he was even more refreshed. Two small children, probably brother and sister, played with a beach-ball supervised by their overweight mother. ‘Yassu,’ she called.
‘Yassu,’ Alexander replied. The little ones called out ‘yassu’ also.
That evening Alexander and Polychroni again enjoyed dinner at Maria’s restaurant. They had a completely different array of food, but it was as enjoyable as the first time. These two souls who were years apart in age but similar in so many other ways talked until all the restaurant guests had left. They talked about the books Polychroni had given to Alexander and about subjects the likes of which Alexander had never spoken to anyone about. It was an evening of enlightenment.
‘If you travel to India, Alexander, you will come across ashrams and centres of learning like nowhere else on earth. Travel slowly. Stay in one place more than moving around. If you feel comfortable or inquisitive in a new location, stay there and see what happens.’
‘Alright,’ he replied simply.
‘I really hope you come back Alexander. Come back and visit again. Meet my wife. Search through my library. You are welcome anytime.’
‘I know I’m welcome, and yes I think I will return. Thanks for everything.’
With that, they said good night. ‘I’ll come and see you off on the ship tomorrow.’
‘I look forward to that. Good night. Kalinikta.’
‘Kalinikta Alexander.’
The next morning, as Alexander was walking towards the port, he heard the ship’s horn blow from a distance before he saw the ship itself. Polychroni was waiting for him on the wharf.
‘It’s been an absolute pleasure meeting you Polychroni,’ Alexander stated emphatically.
‘The pleasure’s been all mine,’ replied Polychroni.
Within minutes, the ship had dropped anchor and was reversing into the wharf. Polychroni embraced his young friend. ‘Do return, please.’
‘Thank you for everything. I think my rucksack has some exceptional knowledge contained in it. Meeting you has changed me a lot. All the opinions and knowledge of the world is contained inside the covers of books. My journey to discover this has now begun thanks to you. Yassu.’
With that the two parted and Alexander boarded the ship with a small group of others. He climbed to the aft deck and waved to Polychroni who in turn waved back.
Then the ship blew its horn, ropes were loosened by the fishermen on the wharf, the engine revs increased and the ship pulled slowly away.
CHAPTER TWO
The wind had come up early and the ship gently rode the small swell out of the harbour. Alexander could see fishing boats dotted all over the place, men busily pulling in nets with little mechanical assistance. The smaller fishing boats bobbed around quite boisterously on the increased off-shore swell.
Alexander chose a bench out of the wind and sat to continue his book, peering up one last time to view the port as the ship rounded the southern headland and the town dropped out of sight.
Even though it was nearing the middle of summer, the ship was by no means crowded. Alexander settled down to read until they were nearing Paros, a journey of just a few hours. He read and read, excitedly turning page after page soon realising the similarity between Goldmund and himself. He wondered if this was the reason Polychroni had given him this particular book but thought it more likely that the reason was that it was simply a very good read. He started to wonder what all the other books he’d been given were about and was looking forward to each with anticipation.
By early afternoon the island of Paros was coming into view. Waves crashed on the tiny rocky outcrops off the harbour entrance and the Meltemi winds blew the spray far into the air. As the ship rounded the northern point, Alexander noticed a beautiful little whitewashed church and the ruins of a building nearby. I’d like to make that my first sketch here, he thought to himself.
Within minutes the ship had blown its horn, dropped anchor and was reversing into the dock. He packed away his book, and headed down to disembark. Again a group of locals greeted the passengers with handwritten signs advertising their hotels and rooms. This time however Alexander decided to search for a place without assistance. He wanted to be right overlooking the water this time and ended up choosing a quaint little room upstairs from a café and a stone’s throw from the water. He had to share the bathroom with the other